Haswell vs. Ivy Bridge: A Look at Old and New

The new fourth-generation Intel Core processors (codenamed Haswell) are out in the latest desktops and laptops. How do they compare to their third-generation (Ivy Bridge) predecessors? We break it down.

Every year about this time Intel releases a new set of processors on the scene, with a laundry list of improvements over the previous generation. This time around, it's the fourth-generation Intel Core processors (codenamed Haswell). But that doesn't mean that last year's third generation Intel Core CPUs (codenamed Ivy Bridge) is going away. Instead, Ivy Bridge will become the processor you'll see in PCs for the cost-conscious custome. But is Haswell really that much of an improvement over Ivy Bridge? We break down that has changed (and what hasn't) between Haswell and Ivy Bridge.

Ivy Bridge Trickles Down
With the release of Haswell CPUs, Ivy Bridge CPUs now move into the more budget-friendly PCs. We are seeing fourth-generation Core processors being installed in high-end systems for this year's back-to-school and holiday seasons. That means that if you want to save a hundred bucks or more on that new laptop, you can buy a new system with a third-generation Intel Core processor. The mainstream and budget laptops and desktops will be where you'll find the best bargains. There are reasons to go with the new processor (which we'll get to below), but if you want to save money go for a third-gen Core processor instead.

Tick vs. Tock
Intel is holding to its "tick-tock" model, where "tick" is a die shrink (new manufacturing process), and "tock" is a new microarchitecture. Ivy Bridge was a die shrink of Sandy Bridge (a.k.a., the second-gen Intel Core CPUs), moving down from a 32nm process to a 22nm process. Haswell continues to use a 22nm process, but it's using a new microarchitecture that's more power efficient.

Are You My Motherboard?
If you're one of the small, but proud, percentage of users who build their own desktops PCs, you'll have to buy a new motherboard if you're thinking of getting a Haswell processor. People upgrading from Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge could do so with a BIOS firmware flash, due to both CPUs sharing the LGA 1155 socket. Haswell (and presumably its Broadwell successor) use the LGA 1150 socket, which is electrically incompatible with the previous models.

Haswell Has Better Graphics, But...
New Haswell processors have upgraded Intel HD Graphics and new Iris/Iris Pro graphics, so 3D performance will improve over that of the Ivy Bridge CPUs. Our tests bear out that theory, but so far, we're only seeing an improvement of 5 frames per second (fps) to 10 fps on our mid-level (1,366 by 768) 3D game tests, which only brings frame rates to a (still unplayable) 17 to 23 fps. That said, if you bring up a less strenuous game that was barely playable on Intel HD Graphics 4000, then one of the new processors would most likely make a difference.

A Speed Bump with a Lower Clock
Haswell is a speed bump, but manufacturers may choose to drop in a lower clocked processor in an update. Take, for example, the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, which used to have a 1.8 GHz Core i5 processor in its 2012 model. The new 2013 model with Haswell comes with a 1.3GHz Core i5, which has a slower clock speed, yet provides similar performance to the older model. Benchmark numbers on Windows systems are trickling in, but we're seeing similar performance numbers. Which brings us to the real reason lower clock speed is better...

Battery Life Wins
The MacBook Air is a prime example, but other ultrabooks will start to show much better battery life real soon now. We tested the MacBook Air 13-inch (Mid 2013), and it got over 15-and-half hours on our battery rundown test. That's more than double that of the previous model, the MacBook Air 13-inch (Mid 2012). Likewise, the Haswell-equipped Sony VAIO Duo 13 stopped five minutes short of nine hours. This is phenomenal, since laptops bought earlier this year topped out at around six hours on the same test, with most lasting far less time. If you're looking for a laptop that you want to use away from the power plug, wait until you can get fourth-generation Intel Core processor in it.

The Best Is Yet To Come
If past history is any indication, the current Core i5 and Core i7 mainstream Haswell processors will be joined by low-end (Core i3) processors at the budget price points, as well as higher end (Extreme Edition) processors much, much further down the road. We'll be waiting.

There are plenty of other differences between Haswell and Ivy Bridge CPUs, including the integrated voltage regulator (formerly part of the chipset), a new focus on lower temperatures and power savings for use on thinner desktops and all-in-ones. But any of those features will make your eyes glaze over unless you're a hardware engineer or a software developer. Suffice to say that we will continue to review complete systems and individual components on PCMag.com, so stay tuned!

Read More

Seagate Unleashes New Ultrathin Hard Disk Drive

The thinnest hard disk drive (HDD) Seagate has ever made is now shipping to PC makers, the storage manufacturer said today.

Seagate's 500GB Laptop Ultrathin HDD has a 5-millimeter profile and is built for ultrathin laptop PCs and tabletswhich generally use Flash-based solid state drives (SSDs) and not mechanical disk drives.

Steve Luczo, president, CEO, and chairman of Seagate, called the new internal storage offering "revolutionary."

"When we originally demonstrated this solution last September, we knew we had a truly innovative product that would empower our partners to reimagine mobile applications. The strong support from our OEM partners indicates we have delivered on our vision and look forward to a new wave of innovative solutions enabled by this revolutionary product," Luczo said in a statement.

The Laptop Ultrathin is a 2.5-inch drive weighing in at 3.3 ounces. Seagate described the ultra-slim and light drive as "about as thin as four stacked credit cards and lighter than a deck of cards."

The new drive packs in 500GB of internal storage for mobile devices in a package that is 25 percent smaller than Seagate's 7mm HDD, formerly the thinnest on offer from the disk drive maker.

At just $89, the Laptop Ultrathin is "[a]n affordable alternative to SSD storage," according to Seagate, which is pushing the extra space freed up by the slim drive as a means for mobile device makers to add bigger batteries and better air circulation to their products.

Partners like Asus were singing the new HDD's praises as it started shipping to their factories.

"The new Seagate Laptop Ultrathin truly raises the bar, enabling us to finally create high-capacity, thin and light laptops that consumers crave at mass-market price points they can afford," said S.Y. Shian, corporate vice president and general manager of Asus's notebook business unit. "The drive's capacity, coupled with its ultra-slim, lightweight footprint, empowers our engineers to think out of the box and create truly ground-breaking, innovative system designsit's a win-win for both us and the consumer."

Seagate's Laptop Ultrathin utilizes a 6GB/s SATA interface and has SED encryption, the company said. The new drive delivers "the best cost per GB and cost per millimeter in the industry for ultrathin applications," according to the storage vendor.

Read More

Glidecam HD-2000

Everyone seems to be a filmmaker these days. Dental hygienists and CPAs can moonlight as Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg on the weekends and post their masterpieces online in beautiful HD quality with the help of digital cameras like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Moviemaking has never been an inexpensive hobby, even in the digital realm. If you aspire to be Scorsese and want to introduce a long tracking shot into your work you'll need a stabilization system. The Glidecam HD-2000 ($549) can capture these types of shots, but it requires some practice to master and balance properly. You could also opt to spend a few thousand dollars on a Steadicam, but spending more money won't make you a better cinematographer, and it won't relieve you of the need to balance your stabilization system.

Design and Features
The Glidecam consists of a broad cheese platea flat piece of metal with lots of holes that allow you to properly center your camera, regardless of what body and lens combination you are using. A pole runs between the top plate and a bottom plate, and holds a number of counterweights required to properly balance the device. In the middle of the pole there's a hinged handle that you hold when you're shooting. When you balance everything perfectly, the hinge and counterweights work to eliminate distracting shakeeven if you're running down the street to get a dynamic shot.

How well the Glidecam works is based partly on your skill with properly balancing the device to match your camera's center of gravity, and with how much practice you have using it. Balancing requires you to move weights around the bottom of the plate so that lateral movement along the X and Y axes is minimized. You'll want to end up with a Z-axis drop time of two to three seconds. Drop time is attained by grabbing the hinged handle and dropping the counterweighted base from a horizontal position with the other hand. Counting the seconds it takes for the base to reach a perpendicular position will give you the time.

Any change in weight or weight distribution on the top plate is going to throw things off balance. So when you're setting up be sure to that you've got the memory card in the camera, and that any microphones, field monitors, or other accessories are also attached and in their proper positions for shooting. Glidecam supplies a user manual outlining this process but you can also view our how-to video below.

loading...

Glidecam Models
There are few Glidecam models, and the one you choose will depend on the amount of weight you'll be mountingthis includes the camera, lens, and any additional accessories. We reviewed the Glidecam HD-2000, which supports between 2 and 6 pounds and works well with a full-frame D-SLR and a wide-angle prime lens. If you've got a Micro Four Thirds camera or a smaller camcorder, you'll be better served by the HD-1000 ($449), which can handle up to 3.5 pounds. Pros with heavy camera rigs will need to move up to the HD-4000 ($649), which can handle between 4 and 10 pounds. There are also lower-priced XR models available, on average they cost $150 less than their HD counterparts. They don't offer as many adjustments, so they can be a bit harder to balance.

Shooting with the Glidecam is just as difficult as balancing it. The goal of the system is to remove the jarring effect of operator body vibration on footage, so most of the supported weight is directed to the handlewhich you hold with one hand. The other hand is used to perform whatever camera movement you choose. Simply grabbing the Glidecam with two hands defeats its purpose. You need to minimize second-hand involvement while still achieving your shooting goals. This takes a touch learned through hours of practice.

Since both of your hands are occupied when shooting, you cannot adjust your focus in the middle of a shot. The best way to keep your subject in focus is to shoot with wide-angle lenses at the smallest aperture possible. As your skills progress with the Glidecam, you can eventually experiment with longer lenses and shallower depths of field but I wouldnt recommend anything longer than 50mm at first.

loading...

Conclusions
To get the most out of the Glidecam you're going to want to add a few accessories that aren't included in the box. The HD-2000 ships with a standard 1/4-20-inch mount cheese plate, but that needs some grip tape and an aftermarket quick release plate to be truly functional. Without those two items, I found the camera would shift in the middle of shooting no matter how tight the screws were. The absence of embedded bubble levels make it difficult to discern if the camera is completely flush on both axes. Luckily, the purchase of a quick release plate like the Manfrotto RC4 Low Profile Rect. Rapid Connect Adapter with 410PL Plate ($53) solves some of the minor problemsit has built-in bubble levels.

Its also important to remember the Glidecam gives you a very specific type of shot, but it's not a cure-all.  Its perfect for injecting the audience into the scene and creating a sense of movement. The famous tracking shot in Scorese's Goodfellas as Ray Liotta enters the Copacabana through the back door and through the kitchen in is a good example of what you can do with this type of stabilization device. That scene was shot with the aid of a Steadicam.

The quality of your shots is going to be largely determined by your hand strength and dexterity. I often experienced dead-arm after shooting with the Glidecam for a few hours. There are a a few body stabilization accessories ranging from a Forearm Brace ($169) to the X-10 vest ($2,399) that are designed to help you shoot for much longer periods of time. The brace will help to take some weight off your arm, while the vest distributes the weight to your body so that your arms are free to perform additional camera movements.

You may get tired and frustrated while using the Glidecam, but the results are well worth the suffering. There is no other affordable way to achieve this type of shot and the quality of your footage is based on the amount of time you invest in practice rather than a manufacturer shortfall. The smooth shooting, affordability of the product, and availability of Steadicam-like accessories make the Glidecam a must have for any indie filmmaker.

Read More

Ask Alex: When to Send a Thank-You Email

Should you send a thank-you email after an informal gathering?; Raising the suspicions of your boss on LinkedIn; Answering your phone at the checkout counter

What is the deal with "thank-you" emails after an informal social event? I never thought they were necessary, but I have been receiving them pretty much any time I have friends over to my place, or when I coordinate an outing. It's sweet. It's not like it bothers me. But am I behind on this one? Should I also start writing thank-you emails after someone else hosts a get-together, or are my friends being absurdly formal?

No Thank You

First of all, congratulations. It sounds like you have very nice friends. That said, you shouldn't expect to receive a thank-you email if you've organized an informal gathering, and you certainly shouldn't be expected to send one if you're an attendee.

But I too have noticed a distinct uptick in post-party pleasantries. I recently hosted a Memorial Day barbecue, and was surprised by the number of notes I received the next day. I didn't get any actual emails (perhaps my friends aren't quite as nice as yours), but almost everyone that came responded to the original invite on Facebook to say what a good time they had. Someone suggested it become a new summer tradition, and someone else just sent nine smiley-bear-face emojis. Thoughtful? Yes. Appreciated? Absolutely. Expected? Not at all.

I actually like this move towards formality (well, as formal as a bunch of emojis can get, anyway). For all the times the Internet can pull us apart as everyone checks their phone at the dinner table, it's nice to know there's still some humanity in there as well. But I think we're still at a point where the thank-you email is optional rather than obligatory. If you remember to send one, it can't hurt, but if you don't, it was never expected in the first place.

_________________________

I'm connected with my boss on LinkedIn. If I suddenly start updating my profile and making more connections, will my boss become suspicious that I'm looking for another job?

LookingOut

It depends on your boss. If you have a "cool boss," he or she probably isn't checking LinkedIn often enough to know that you've changed anything anyway. And if they are, perhaps it's because they're looking for a new job, too.

But if your boss' personality can best be described as Type A, then yeah, you may want to roll some of these changes out a bit more slowly. A few new connections here and some profile tweaks there will probably fly under the radar (unless your boss is a complete freak, that is). But tons of new connections with people at rival companies and a complete profile overhaul will likely sound some alarms.

But then again, if you're unhappy in your current position, maybe it isn't such a bad thing for your boss to know that you've got other options. If you feel underpaid or undervalued, perhaps it's because you are. And if your boss pokes around enough to see there are other people interested in you, it might help them realize what a valuable asset you are.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a new job because it's your boss that's the problem, you probably want to steer clear of further agitating him or her with a deluge of self-promotion. Stagger your online activity over a period of time, and good luck getting out of there.

_________________________

I feel like whenever I call my mom, she's either answering from the checkout line at the grocery store, at the salon getting her hair done, or making a deposit at the bank. I think it's rude to talk on the phone when you're interacting with someone else, and I've told her as much, but she doesn't think it's a problem. Who's right?

Chatty at Checkout

You are. She might be right about almost everything else, but in this case your mom is flat-out wrong.

Even if you're not going to have a conversation with the cashier at the grocery store, they shouldn't have to interrupt your personal phone call to ask how you'd like to pay. It's really just a matter of common decency and respect.

Tell your mom to think about it this way: How would she feel if she were at the bank, and the teller carried out a conversation with a nearby colleague the entire time she stood there, with little more than a head nod to acknowledgment her presence. If your mom is anything like mine, that would drive her crazy enough to think twice about where she takes her calls.

And if that doesn't work, text before you call next time. Just make sure to ask if she's really free to talk.

_________________________

Need some tech etiquette advice?  See if your question has already been answered, send Alex an email at askalex@pcmag.com, or fill out the form below!

Read More

HBO GO, WatchESPN Added to Apple TV

Apple has officially added HBO GO and WatchESPN to its lineup of Apple TV programming.

Additionally, Cupertino signed three new content providers — Sky News, Crunchyroll, and Qello — for live news, sports, and current TV programming.

HBO subscribers can now get unlimited access to the new season of True Blood, or catch up favorite episodes of The Wire, via the Apple TV.

Meanwhile, WatchESPN serves as a one-stop video spot for sports fans and current ESPN subscribers, with live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line.

"HBO GO and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV," Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet Software and Services at Apple, said in a statement.

Sky News, meanwhile, delivers a live 24/7 news feed to users in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland, who can also find specific stories in the on-demand news library. Crunchyroll brings Japanese Anime and Asian media to subscribers worldwide, while Qello streams HD concerts and music documentaries via free or paid subscriptions.

The Apple TV set-top box will get a boost this fall, Cupertino said, when iTunes Radio launches its personalized music experience directly on Apple TV. The Internet radio feature will also be available on iOS 7 devices via the Music app and on the Mac and PC via iTunes.

For more, see PCMag's review of Apple TV and the slideshow above, as well as our review of HBO GO for iPhone.

Read More

Toshiba 39L2300U

Not long ago, if you walked into a store with $1000 to spend on an HDTV you'd have to settle for one with a small 720p screen and almost no features whatsoever. Nowadays, that same $1000 gets you a much larger full HD screen, and in some cases, neat features like 3D and networking capabilities, as seen with the Vizio E601I-A3. With the Toshiba L2300U series you can get a fairly big 1080p screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, good audio output, and a relatively sharp LED backlit picture, but that's about it. This bare-bones HDTV line is not only light on features but its color accuracy is off and its black levels are weak. We tested the 50-inch 50L2300U ($999.99 list) , and while it's a serviceable HDTV there are better deals to be had for the money.

Editors' Note: This review is based on tests performed on the Toshiba 50L2300U, the 50-inch model of the series. Besides the screen-size difference, the 39-inch $529.99 39L2300U is otherwise identical in features, and while we didn't perform lab tests on this specific model, we expect similar performance.

Design and Features
The 50L2300U's 3.5-inch deep cabinet is relatively thick for an LED-backlit HDTV. Thin (0.8-inch) glossy black bezels frame the top and sides of the panel, while the 1-inch bottom bezel is done up in a gun metal gray finish with a remote sensor and power indicator light on the right side. The screen comes with a rectangular plastic stand that matches the set's bottom bezel. It doesn't do a very good job of supporting the 33.5 pound cabinet and was pretty wobbly after we put it together. You'd be better off mounting this TV on a wall, if possible.

This set only comes with three HDMI ports, two of which are at the rear of the cabinet facing inconveniently outward. They are joined by a set of shared component/composite AV ports, a VGA (PC video) input, a cable/antenna jack, and two audio jacks (digital-out and analog-in). The third HDMI port shares space on the left side of the cabinet with a single USB port and four control buttons (Volume Up/Down, Channel Up/Down, Power, and Input). Unlike the Vizio E601I-A3 and Sony Bravia KDL-50EX645, the 50L2300U does not support Internet connectivity, and as such, lacks any Web services. It also doesn't have 3D capabilities.

The 7-inch remote is a basic wand with 34 buttons and four directional arrow keys for navigating the settings menus. None of the keys are backlit, but the white labeling stands out and is easy to read. The 50L2300U offers plenty of picture settings; there are five presets (Dynamic, Standard, Movie, Game, and PC) and the usual Brightness, Contrast, Color, Tint, and Sharpness adjustments. In the Advanced menu you can fine-tune color levels by enabling the ColorMaster option, allowing you to access the BaseColor Adjustment menu where you can adjust hue, saturation, and brightness levels for red, green, blue, cyan, yellow, and magenta colors. Here you can also adjust Gamma and Color Temperature settings, enable the Auto Brightness and DynaLight (black level correction) options, and switch on the Edge Enhancer for a sharper picture.

There are also a good selection of audio settings that coax solid output from the down-firing speakers. You won't rattle the windows with this set but the Audyssey ABX switch provides a decent bass boost and a bit more pop than you'd expect from HDTV speakers. The Stable Sound feature, which prevents sudden changes in volume when channel surfing, is a useful option.

Performance
The 50L2300U handles 1080p content reasonably well but, doesn't produce the dark blacks necessary for intricate shadow detail and a high contrast ratio. Using a Klein K10-A colorimeter, SpectraCal's CalMAN 5, and images from the DisplayMate HDTV diagnostic utility, I measured a peak brightness of 251.76 cd/m² and a black level of 0.1836 cd/m², neither of which are very impressive (the black levels were particularly high). The resulting 1,371:1 contrast ratio can be blamed for the murky shadow detail I observed while watching underwater scenes from the movie Piranha on Blu-ray, and is disappointing compared with the Editors' Choice budget HDTV, the RCA LED42C45RQ's admittedly middling 1,796:1 contrast ratio. Motion handling, on the other hand, was very good, thanks to the panel's 120Hz refresh rate.

Color accuracy was sketchy; as shown in the CIE chart above, reds were oversaturated, greens were a bit light, and whites were a bit warm. The closer each dot is to its color box the more accurate the color. The light green reproduction didn't have an obvious effect as far as tinting goes, but the hot reds had skin tones looking more flushed than they should be. A full calibration would likely correct this problem and the 50L2300U certainly has the controls to perform one, but a full color calibration is a time-consuming process that can be expensive if you're not familiar with the process yourself. Viewing angle performance was good; there was a slight loss of luminance when viewed from around 60-degrees from center, but colors remained true.

The 50L2300U used 87 watts of power during testing in standard mode and 69 watts in movie mode. That's significantly better than the Sony Bravia KDL-50EX645 (106 watts in standard mode and 92 watts in Eco mode) and comparable to the LG 55LM6700 (67 watts).

Conclusion
The Toshiba 50L2300U isn't a top performer and it isn't packed with features. It is affordable, however, and gets you into a 120Hz big-screen HDTV for under a grand. It doesn't use a lot of power and offers better than average audio output, but its out of the box color accuracy could be better and its black level performance is weak. If you're itching for a big screen HDTV and have limited funds, this model will fill the bill, but there are better choices out there, including the Vizio E601I-A3, which offers a bigger screen and both wired and wireless Ethernet capabilities. Or, if you can live with a smaller 46-inch screen, our Editors' Choice for budget HDTVs, the RCA LED46C45RQ, offers better color accuracy for less than half the list price of the 50L2300U.

Read More

Panasonic TC-P50ST50

Panasonic plasma HDTVs have a well-deserved reputation for producing very dark black levels, and the TC-P55ST50 continues that trend. The 55-inch plasma panel not only delivers inky blacks, it's out of the box color accuracy is outstanding too.  At $1,699.99 (list) it's not exactly a steal, but it's not quite as expensive as our reigning Editors' Choice plasma, last year's Samsung PN51D8000 ($2,299.99, 4 stars). The TC-P55ST50  is 3D ready, but it doesn't include glasses, which means you'll have to shell out upwards of $300 for active shutter 3D glasses for a family of four. You'll also pay more to run this set, since like many plasmas, it's not particularly energy efficient.

Editors' Note: This review is based on tests performed on the Panasonic TC-P55ST50, the 55-inch model in the same series. Besides the screen size difference, the $1,399.99 50-inch TC-P50ST50  is identical in features, and while we didn't perform lab tests on this specific model, we expect similar performance.

Design and Features
With the TC-P55ST50 Panasonic moves away from the glossy black bezel design used on earlier models, including the Panasonic P50GT30 ($1,199.99, 3.5 stars) we reviewed last year. This time around the panel is framed by dark gray bezels with a slice of clear trim around the outer edge. A silver brushed aluminum base complements the cabinet and gives the set a touch of elegance. The stand does a fine job of supporting the 61-pound cabinet, but it doesn't swivel.

Behind the right-hand bezel are power, channel, and volume controls and an input select button that doubles as a menu button when you press and hold it. The rear of the cabinet holds all of the I/O connections; three HDMI ports, two USB ports, and an SD card slot are vertically mounted and face left for easy access. Ethernet, TV/antenna, and digital audio out connections sit horizontally under a recessed space notched into the back panel. Here you'll also find a proprietary mini-component video input port for use with the included component dongle. It's odd that Panasonic only equips this model with three HDMI ports considering most HDTVs have four, and in the case of the Sharp Elite Pro-60X5FD ($5,999, 4 stars), five.

The 9-inch remote has 43 buttons and a four-way directional rocker with an Enter button. The main keys have red backlighting that makes them easy to identify in a dark room. The three main keys (Menu, Internet, and Viera Tools) are situated above the rocker assembly, while the number keys and player controls are at the bottom of the remote along with a Help key that launches a built-in user manual.

There's also a 3D button that lets you view 2D content in a simulated 3D mode. As I found with the Sharp Elite Pro-60X5FD , converted 3D picture quality isn't up to snuff compared with true made-for-3D image quality. You don't get the depth and clarity that true 3D offers, and there's a good deal of crosstalk. As with the P50GT30 , the P55ST50 does not include active shutter 3D glasses, so be prepared to part with an additional $80 per pair.

Image settings include five preset picture modes (Standard, Cinema, Custom, Vivid, Game) and your basics: Brightness, Contrast, Color, Tint, Sharpness, and Color Temperature. Panasonic's Pro settings allow you to adjust color space and set high and low white balance for reds, greens, and blues. Other Pro settings include panel brightness and gamma adjustment.

The Audio setting menu offers Bass, Treble, Balance, and Surround settings, as well as a volume leveler to keep those pesky commercials from blasting you out of your seat. The TC-P55ST50's 8-Train speaker system, consisting of eight mini domes and a slim but powerful subwoofer, provides a solid wall of sound with a good amount of bass, but the surround effect sounds thin.

Panasonic's selection of Web apps is top notch; streaming movie channels include Vudu, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant video, and CinemaNow, and you get Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and YouTube. Internet Sports channels include MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, and Fox Sports. The Viera Market Connect menu offers plenty of free services as well as pay-for apps like Uno, Apple Muncher, and Let's Golf 2. And, there's a built-in Web browser.

Performance
I tested the TC-P55ST50 using images from the DisplayMate suite of HDTV diagnostic tests, SpectraCal's CalMAN software, and a CS-200 Chroma Meter. After a basic calibration the panel produced a nice dark black level reading of 0.02 cd/m², but it could only manage a peak brightness of 85.45 cd/m², which is tad darker than the P50GT30 (88.58 cd/m²) and quite dim compared with the Samsung PN51D8000 (244.92 cd/m²).

Out-of-the-box color accuracy was excellent. The panel practically hit the CIE (International Commission On Illumination) chromaticity coordinates for red, green, and blue on the nose, as shown in the CalMAN-generated diagram below. More importantly, the P55ST50 delivers an excellent picture; colors popped from the solid black background in the Seasonal Forests chapter of the BBC's Planet Earth Blu-ray, and shadow detail was outstanding in the darker Ocean Deep chapter. What's more, there was no evidence of the fringing effect that plagued the P50GT30. Off angle viewing was typical of a good plasma panel. There was no loss of luminance from an extreme side angle and colors remained bright and true.

3D performance was good, but not on a par with our Editors' Choice high-end LCD, the Sharp Elite Pro. I noticed some crosstalk while watching clips from IMAX Under The Sea 3D, but the artifacts were minor and didn't detract from the overall experience. Panasonic's glasses are lighter than most active shutter glasses, but aren't as comfortable as today's passive glasses, like the six pairs that come with the Editors' Choice Vizio M3D550KD ($1,429.99, 4 stars).

Plasma HDTVs aren't known for energy efficiency, and the P55ST50 is no exception. With Power Saving mode disabled, the set used 305 watts during my testing; that number dropped to 245 watts with it enabled. The P50GT30 averaged 225 watts, while the Samsung PN51D8000  used 105 watts in Standard mode. If energy efficiency is a deal breaker, consider an LED-backlit LCD model like the LG 55LM6700 ($2,299.99, 4 stars), which only consumed 67 watts.

Conclusion
The Panasonic P55ST50 is a tastefully designed 55-inch plasma HDTV that delivers very accurate colors, deep dark blacks, and wide off-angle viewing. Its $1,700 price tag is not unreasonable considering its performance, but you'll end up spending around $2000 if you need four pairs of 3D glasses. You don't get the brightness and superior image quality of the Samsung PN51D8000, but you do get a slightly bigger screen and a much smaller price tag.

Read More